Lessons Learned and Unlearned

This week, I learned a lot more about how to use Google Ads and Keywords. I also learned that it is important to pay attention to the details of the instructions because I accidentally created an express account at first, so I had to contact Google support to figure out how to have access to all of the tools available in the regular account. Regarding keywords, I learned how important it is to have the best keywords possible. If keywords are all too specific, too general, or simply not relevant enough, we are going to waste money on nothing. We won't get clicks, we won't get sales, and nothing good will really come from learning to use Google Ads. However, if we use good Keywords and target our ad campaigns effectively, we can really grow our businesses and get better and better each day as we continue to learn and improve our skills.

This week was very informative to me. I learned a lot about the legal side behind business. I learned a lot from websites and decided from those sites to register my business as a sole proprietorship. I used that information and decision to fill out the form to assume a business name in the state of Idaho, so I now own my business name, Mountain Burkes. I then talked to my dad who has been in accounting for nearly 30 years about the tax side. He informed me about the importance of keeping track of expenses and income in an excel sheet so that I can correctly report my taxes for this year. Because I will probably end the year in the negative, this will help me save money using write-offs on my tax forms. My plan for putting all of this information into action is this. I am going to open a separate bank account for the business in order to easily track expenses and income from the business. As a backup, I am going to create an excel sheet in order to keep track of all of that information...

This week I learned a lot about how I should go about designing my website. The most important things I learned from my study and research is that the site needs to be simple and clean. There are a lot of crowded websites out there that take a long time to load, don't look appealing, and aren't easy to understand and navigate. I don't want things to be hidden deep within my site so that customers have to dig to find what they are looking for. The best example site that I found was BarberPopShop.com. They are a local business in Rexburg and their site is one of the nicest that I have seen. I didn't have to dig for what I wanted, everything was understandable to read, and I was able to get in and out quickly while still making a purchase. The website itself made me want to be a return customer, regardless of the service or products provided. I want to design my site after theirs, with only four pages, good colors, and an easy to understand format.

This week I looked into different site hosts and builders, and I think I have a good idea of what I want to use for my site. For my purposes and circumstances, I have decided that Bluehost will be the best host site and WordPress will be the best site builder. I know that WordPress will require a lot more time to learn, but I think I will be able to build a much cleaner, better website when I can figure it out. Luckily, Bluehost also has a tool included in the plan I have decided to purchase that simplifies WordPress' building process. It is slightly more expensive that other sites, but I think that it will be an investment that will yield great returns, both financially and personally. If I can learn to effectively use WordPress, I will be more capable of building sites later, which skill will be of great worth to me throughout my life. The $60 for an annual subscription, in my opinion is well worth it. I am also working to definitively choose the best specific product and supplie...

This week I have learned so much about different possible business models for me to use for my online business. I am planning on doing an affiliate business because of the risk and difficulty of starting a drop shipping business. Affiliate businesses are created when networks that sell products from multiple vendors sell through separate businesses (affiliates), and those affiliates get a commission from each sale routed through their website. All I will need to do is set up a website that is good enough to generate sales and then set up a relationship with a company that sells the product that I want to sell. This will also give me an inside view into the industry of whatever product  choose to sell. So, if I want to move into another business model later, I will know some of the basics that I need to be successful in that industry. I am excited about the opportunity that I will have to start this affiliate business and learn from the experience!